will hear our supplications and prayers if they proceed from a true sense of the want of what we pray for Thirdly he will succour and comfort us in our sorrowes and distresses if we cry unto him in the true apprehension of our own misery Lastly such is the goodnesse of God that he will incline our will and put holy desires into our hearts to seek the light of his countenance when we are prepared for it by true humiliation and sorrow for our sins for then he will hear our prayers he will grant our requests and will graciously accept us though our sins had formerly moved him to hide himself from us Consider further that the principall meanes of grace is by Jesus Christ our Saviour by whose righteousnesse we are justified by whose grace we are sanctified and by the merite of whose blood we are saved so that without Christ we can neither come into grace and favour with God neither can any sanctifying and saving graces be wrought in us to make us capable of salvation Now God hath appointed the sincere Preaching of his Word to be a special meanes to reveal Christ perfectly and fully to us and to work faith in us whereby we are knit and united unto Christ from whom all other sanctifying and heavenly graces do plentifully flow and they are conveyed to us by the operations of the holy Ghost Thus saith the Apostle q Rom. 10. â—7 Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God and it bringeth in with it all other spirituall Graces For the Word of God containeth in it whatsoever is needful to salvation and there is no grace but we may attain to it by this meanes if the holy Ghost doth accompany the administration of it to bring it close to our hearts God hath also other meanes which he useth for the working of grace in us and to bring us home when we go astray from him for every blessing that we receive every affliction that he sendeth and every motion of his Spirit that we feel is a call from God and a meanes that conduceth to the gain of some grace or other His blessings should stir us up to glorifie God with our praises and thankfulnesse r Rom. 2. 4. his goodnesse should lead us to repentance and his love to us should binde us to love him again also the sorrowes and miseries that we suffer in this life should teach us godly sorrow for our sins and patience under the crosse they should humble us and bring us to true repentance and newnesse of life so likewise every motion of his holy Spirit should move us to obedience and to conformity of will to the will of God and the dayly experience we have of Gods care over us should teach us to confide in God and to rest and depend upon him in all conditions of life whatsoever These and the like means God doth use to quicken up those graces that lye languishing in us and are as dead to our apprehension and also to make us seek unto him for his grace and favour which is sufficient to support us in all our tryalls and distresses These heavenly motions of the holy Ghost is Gods still voice which should make deep impression in our hearts because he doth thereby immediatly from himself reveal his will and pleasure to us what we ought to do to which holy inspirations we ought to yield our willing obedience though it be irksome to our nature and crossing the unregenerate part of our will as to repent and to leave a darling sin which we have long nourished in our bosomes This is a time when we may gain the grace and favour of God if we are ready to listen to this voice and cheerfully to obey it Wherefore this ought to be our care to imbrace any meanes or opportunity that God shall tender to us for grace because it is Gods time of grace and he will second his own time and his own meanes with a blessing if we imbrace it but if we will be feasting when we should fast and pray or rejoicing when we should mourn and weep we do then discover too much disobedience and rebellion against the will of God Now we ought to examine our selves how we have profited under the meanes of grace how the Word of God hath wrought upon our hearts and affections what heavenly graces have been wrought in us by it or by any of Gods holy Ordinances and what spirituall comfort we have found by them Also we ought to examine what thankfulnesse we have returned to God for his blessings what sorrow of heart we have had for our sins how we have been humbled under the crosse what reformation of life Grace hath wrought in us how we have obeyed the holy motions of Gods Spirit and how we have been ravished in soul with earnest desires to do the will of God If we have lived long under a powerfull Ministery and yet have gained little or no knowledge of Christ and of the truth and no faith or saving grace is wrought in us by the power of it we have then lost so much time of grace and we have not improved the meanes of grace to our best advantage nor to the right end as God hath appointed which is to gain grace for the spiritual good of our souls Wherefore let these be the Meditations of our hearts how to improve the time and the meanes of Grace to the right end that we may be found good stewards and profitable servants to our Lord and Master Jesus Christ by that gain which we shall make of grace in this little stock of time which he hath given us in this life For the more time and the more meanes of grace we do enjoy the more fruits of grace we must bring forth or else we shall be unprofitable servants If we improve our time for grace as we ought we shall gain the love and favour of God in Christ our hearts will be seasoned with all spirituall graces and our conversation will be in heaven while we live here upon earth for we shall live a gracious and a comfortable life now and a glorious and blessed life hereafter Also let this be the true desire of our souls to redeem the time of grace that we have lost and to improve the meanes of grace to more profit that the fruits of it may appear in our obedience to Gods Commandements in our zeal to the true worship and service of God and in our care to walk in all piety and vertue which we may the better do if we daily addresse our selves to God by faithfull prayer for the gracious assistance of his holy Spirit herein In the last place we must consider that though God doth give us time and meanes for grace yet we cannot attain unto it without the speciall working of the Spirit of grace in us for he must put a spirituall light into our understandings he must open our hearts and
Christ is above all humane wisdom and therefore g 1 Cor. 2. 1 2. Paul came not to the Corinthians with excellency of speech or of wisedome to declare unto them the testimony of God For he determined not to know any thing among them save Iesus Christ and him crucified Wherefore if we can gain this heavenly knowledge by our studies and meditations of Christ we have enough to make our soules gracious here and eternally blessed hereafter Of Christs Prophetical Office NOw we come to the several offices of Christ from whence we may draw some profitable matter for our instruction and for our comfort And in the first place God ordained him to be a Prophet according as the Lord said unto Moses a Deut. 18. 18. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren like unto thee and will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him This is that great prophet of the Lord Christ Jesus who had not his Prophetical gift by divine revelation as all the Prophets had but it was inherent in him and he had it from his own divine nature and by his own power and therefore he needed not that any thing should be revealed unto him Christ gave some manifestation of this his office by way of prophesie b Luc. 21. for he foretold the destruction of the Temple c Luke 19. 43 44. the great desolation that should shortly come upon Jerusalem d Lu. 21. 25 and also the signs which shall be before the day of Judgement likewise he foretold e Mat. 20. 18 19. what should be done to himself in his passion f Mat. 26. 34 and how shamefully Peter should deny him and not a word that proceeded out of his mouth could fall to the ground but must be fulfilled in due time because g Joh. 14. 5 he that was the Truth did speak it He h Joh. 2. 24 25. did know the secrets of every mans heart he knew who believed in him and who did not and also what mischief his enemies intended against him for nothing could be hidden from him Christ hath given some glimps of his Prophetical gift to his Ministers to foresee the judgements of God that will fall upon a Nation or people if they are above measure sinfull and will not be reclaimed nor brought to repentance but Christ by his own preaching hath now put an end to the gift of Prophesie ordinarily If it be so that every word which Christ hath spoken must be fulfilled how ought we to fear and tremble at his threatnings how careful should we be to make our peace with him by sound repentance and turning unto God before he puts in execution what he hath threatned also how comfortable are his promises which in their time shall be performed if we rest upon them by faith how can any affliction or sorrow tire if we rest upon a promise of succour from Christ and how can we despair of our salvation if we do believe that Christ hath perfectly wrought our redemption and hath made our peace with God his Father Also if it be so that Christ doth see by his divine nature into the secrets of all hearts we ought to be vigilant and careful to keep our hearts cleansed and purified from the guilt of sinne into the blood of Christ by the dayly renewing of our faith and true repentance that no darling sin may be cherished there for he can see it and find it out But this was not the chief end that Christ did intend in this his office for he was anointed by the holy Ghost at his Baptism to preach the Gospel of peace according to this prophesie of him i Isa 61. Luc. 4. 18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek he hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord c. Christ did execute the part of his Prophetical office in the whole course of his Ministry and k Mat. 7. 28 29. the people were astonished at his doctrine for l Luc. 4. 32 his word was with power and he taught them as one having authority His whole doctrine was pure and divine it was directed to the manifestation of his heavenly Fathers will and to the regulating of our sinful lives according to Gods commandements which he comprehended in this short sum m Mat. 22 37. 39 Thou shalt love the Lâ—rd thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self Christ did rightly interpret the moral Law and freed it from the false glosses of the Pharisees for whereas that commanded onely external obedience to the commandements according to their interpretation of them as not to kill not to commit actual adultery and the like n Mat. 5. his doctrine addeth internal observation as not to speak angry words to our neighbours hurt not to lust and the like And whereas the ceremonial Law commanded to offer up a sheep or an oxe for our sins the doctrine of Christ doth instruct us to offer up a broken and a contrite heart that our sins may be washed away in the blood of Christ by faith and to purpose and resolve the reformation of our sinful lives Christs doctrine tended wholly to the perfect service of God to draw our minds from the vanities of this world and to set our affections upon the Kingdom of heaven Also it tended to the depression of our spiritual pride to the mortification of our sinful appetites and to the stiring up of our heavenly cogitations to peace of conscience tranquillity of mind purity of body and the comfort of our soule in brief his doctrine did contain whatsoever is necessary to salvation for he did reveal the whole counsel of God As the doctrine of Christ was divine and heavenly so his whole life and conversation was exactly sutable thereunto for it was most upright and holy and a lively table wherein was expressed the perfection of his doctrine This may teach all the Ministers of his word to frame their lives according to the purity of their doctrine that their good example may confirm their doctrine and be a pattern for others to follow Christ doth still execute this part of his Prophetical office in his Ministers by the preaching of his Word and the vertue and power of his Spirit doth also joyn with their continual preaching to make it powerful for edification and instruction and effectual to salvation Wherefore our hearts and affections must be sanctified and seasoned with grace and our eares must be spiritually bored when we come to hear the Word of God preached and we must faithfully pray that his Spirit would accompany the
blasphemous words and cruell torments upon the crosse even to the pouring out of his very heart blood to purge and cleanse us from the guilt and from the filth of all our sins and that he suffered whatsoever the malice and power of the devill could inflict upon him and also that for the time his Divine nature did refuse to minister comfort to his humanity in these his bitter torments what thankfulnesse then do we ow to our dear Saviour for his wonderfull love to us What can be too dear for him that did account nothing too dear for us what duty what reverence and fear do we ow unto him who hath paid so great a price for our redemption Our best expressions of love and duty are no way answerable to that which Christ hath deserved and which we are Sound to perform unto him yet if they come from a willing minde and from a sincere heart Christ our Saviour will accept them and out of his fulnesse will supply what is wanting in us and God will be well pleased with it for his sake Here is much matter of heavenly comfort for us if our hearts can devoutly Meditate upon it and receive it Our life may be full of misery and our hearts full of sadnesse and perplexity our faith may be so weak that we can have no apprehension of the love and favour of God and our spirits may be so cast down that we cannot raise them up towards heaven we may be pressed with troubles crosses and sorrowes beyond our strength and the light of Gods countenance may be so eclipsed that we can see no token of his grace and favour to sweeten the bitternesse of our sufferings and to support us under the pressure of them but we are ready to faint and to cast off all hope of relief and comfort b Psal 42. 11. but for all this we need not fear our souls need not be disquieted within us for if we wait on God he will be our present help he will be our God and he will not forsake us The brightnesse of his countenance may be darkened for a few hours as it was with the Sun at this very same time c Mal. 4. 2. but the Sun of righteousnesse will again appear to us with healing in his wings then we shal see the salvation of the Lord if we can look up with the eye of faith to our sweet Saviour who was brought to a lower degree of spirituall desertion in the apprehension of his humane nature thn we can be and yet he found a return of the gracious aspect of his Fathers countenance toward him whereby he hath sanctified and sweetned whatsoever can betide us to sink our spirits or to shake our faith and confidence in God If our ear is spiritually bored to hear those dolefull and lamentable words which our Saviour uttered upon the crosse when he was ready to yeild up his Spirit to God his Father and yet apply them to our selves by faith we may then draw vertue and power from them to strengthen our faith and to support our hope in the assurance of his love that he will not bring us to so low a degree of spiritual desertion because our weaknesse will not bear so great a tryall but will make us to hold out to the end by the Almighty power of his eternall Spirit Now learn O my sorrowful soul so to imprint the crucifying of thy dear Saviour in thy heart by faith that thou maist draw grace and vertue from thence to crucifie all thy corruptions and the evill concupiscence of thy flesh that thine affections may not be carried after worldly vanities that thine eyes may not delight to gaze upon obscene spectacles that thine eares may be dull to unsavory speeches but swift to hear words that tend to edification and that thy tongue may have no motion to utter any thing that is dishonourable to God or hurtfull to thy neighbour d Gal. 6. 14. Thus by the power of Christ crucified the world shall be crucified to thee and thou unto the world if thou dost truly believe that he was crucified for thee because it will dull the edge of thine affections to all earthly things it will work in thee an hatred and detestation of all sinfull pleasures and thou wilt dayly labour and e Col. 3. 9. Eph. 4. 22. strive to mortifie the old man of sin that hath had his habitation in thy bosome above these threescore years In thy first creation thou wert a lovely creature beloved of thy God without spot or blemish in soul or in body thou wert beautified and adorned with all graces and holy vertues reverenced and obeyed of all other creatures here upon earth and the celestiall orbs did cast no evill aspects upon thee but now thou art deformed with sin thou art polluted in all the faculties of thy soul and in all the parts of thy body for thou art spiritually blinde naked and void of all goodnesse thou art deaf and dumb to heavenly things thou art lame and impotent and canst not walk in the paths of righteousnesse also thou art so bent and bowed to the earth that thou canst not raise up thy heart toward heaven and so full of spirituall diseases and infirmities that there is no sound part in thee But this is thy comfort O my soul that the blood of thy crucified Redeemer which was spilt upon the crosse will take away all thy deformities of sin and will heal all thy spiritual diseases and his righteousnesse will make thee lovely in the sight of God If this be our condition by nature if we are thus deformed with the guilt of sin that cleaveth to our souls by our fall in Adam and if we have no meanes to regain our first happinesse in Adams first innocency but by Christ and to be cleansed from all our sins but by his blood then our chief care must be how to injoy Christ and how to have this great benefit by his blood If we are ingrafted into him by faith we shall injoy him in his whole nature as he is God and Man we shall partake with him in all his excellencies and graces he will work a new creation in us by his Spirit and a thorough change in all the faculties of our souls and in all the affections of our hearts that no sin shall cleave to our souls for our condemnation for he will also nail the the guilt of all our sins to his crosse upon which he shed his most precious blood to make an attonement for them all He will also take away the stains and filth of our sins by his sanctifying grace and holy Spirit and will put upon us the robe of his own righteousnesse which will cover all our deformities and will make us amiable and lovely in the sight of God By the merit of Christs blood our sins shall never be laid to our charge by the power of his death we are made able
iniquity of our sinnes unto Christ our Saviour and of his free grace to account us just by the imputation of his righteousnesse to us through faith So likewise hereby we have the adoption of sonnes and all the priviledges that do belong unto sonnes These are such benefits and such comforts as none can conceive but such as doe injoy them and none can injoy them but by Christ and there is no way to have them by Christ but onely by a true and a lively faith in him Secondly by faith we are invested into the Covenant of grace and all the gracious promises that are contained in it doe belong unto us also by faith we have great comfort and hope in all other the promises of God whether they concern this life or the life to come for we believe the truth of his word and his ready will to perform what he hath promised and though his promises are sometimes impossible to nature and above humane reason yet faith gives us ability to rest upon them because we believe that he is faithful that hath promised and able to perform his word Thus saith Solomon Blessed â— 1 Kings â— 50. be the Lord that hath given rest unto his people Israel according to all that he hath promised there hath not failed one word of all his good promises which he promised by the hand of Moses his Servant The promises of God are limited to the condition of faith and obedience and though they are above our capacity yet we may confide in them for he will perform them in his due time b Rom. 4 18 19 20. God made a promise to Abraham that his seed should be as numerous as the starres in the firmament when he was about an hundred yeares old and yet betâ—g not weak in faith he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief but against hope he believed in hope that he might become the father of many Nations and he was fully perswaded that what God had promised he was able also to perform c Heb. 11. 11 Sarah through faith received strength to conceive seed though she were barren and past age and she was delivered of a child because she judged him faithful who had promised If we do thus rest upon the promises God in all conditions of life and in all the chances and changes that can happen to us it will fit and prepare us to receive them contentedly at Gods hands But the special servants of God may be so over-pressed with the extremity of afflictions that they are ready to distrust the truth of Gods Word and to waver in their assiance and confidence in him if he delayeth to perform his promise and to help them This was Asaphs case who thus complained d Psal 74. 8 10. Is his mercy clean gone for ever doth his promise fail for evermore But he doth presently check himself and acknowledge that it was his infirmity thus to distrust the goodnesse of God Thus saith Peter e 2 Pet. 3. 9. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise for he will remember to perform it when his time is come that it will make most for his glory and for our good Wherefore f Heb. 6. 12. we must wait patiently upon God and then we shall inherit the promises g Eph. 1. 13. for by faith we are sealed with that holy Spirit of promise that we may confidently rest upon God and upon the truth of his Word Wherefore if we are well acquainted with the Scriptures we shall find many promises of grace to strengthen our faith when we are under any temptation to comfort our soules when we are in any anguish of spirit or under the pressure of any crosse or calamity And when we have found a promise that will suit with our present condition then to make use of our faith to lay hold upon it to apply it to our selves and to rest firmly upon it though it be above hope for God can and will assuredly perform it to our great consolation If God doth deferre the performance of it longer than we expect yet we must patiently wait upon him for when he hath wrought his own work in us for his own glory and our good he will not then delay to perform it a moment longer Thirdly by faith we shall receive much profit and comfort by Gods holy Ordinances without which our services to God cannot be performed according to his will The preparation of the heart to the profitable â—earing of the sacred Word of God is by faith h Act. 15. 9. because hereby our hearts are purified and cleansed from all sin in the bloud of Christ that no guilt of sin may cleave to our soules and consciences to stop the current of grace to our hearts and to hinder the free working of the Spirit of God upon our affections by the ministry of his word that it cannot take root in us for our edification and instruction to convince us of our errours to reprove us for our sinnes and to comfort us in all sorrows and sadnesse of heart It is faith that makes our hearts good ground fit to receive the seed of Gods Word that it may take deep root in us to fructifie and bring forth much fruit to the glory of God What comfort can we have by the Word of God if we doe not hear it with hearts purified from our corruptions by faith how can it profit us if there be not an holy preparation to receive it that the holy Ghost may imprint it in our hearts to be a word of power in us unto salvation and to be the Savour of life unto eternal life and how can it be fruitful in us to the reformation of our lives if our hearts are not seasoned with faith i Rom. 10. 17. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God and then it is a special meanes which the spirit of God useth to convey spiritual knowledge to the understanding holy desires to the will to study and endeavour to a godly life and also true consolation to the soul So likewise our hearts are prepared by faith to the worthy receiving of the Lords Supper for as we doe refresh our bodies with the Bread and Wine so our soules are refreshed and comforted by our spiritual feeding on the body and blood of Christ by faith Also faith will put an holy zeal into our prayers to make them fervent and effectual to prevail with God to send us a gracious answer in his good time Thus saith our Saviour Christ k Mar. 11. 24. What things soever yee desire when yee pray believe that ye receive them and yee shall have them O what comfort might we find in our prayers when we are in want sorrow or in any necessity if we did pray with zealous affections and did faithfully believe that our petitions are granted before we receive them then we would wait upon God until he is
pleased to satisfie our desires for our faith will give us as certain assurance to obtain what we pray for as if we did already injoy it We have no hope of succour in our distresses but by prayer and no prayer is prevailing with God but that which comes from a believing heart The gift of prayer may move the affections for the present but it is the grace of prayer that is powerful with God the gift of prayer is but a common gift of the holy Ghost which may be without faith and consequently without any acceptance l Heb. 11. 6. For without faith it is impossible to please God but faith doth alwayes goe along with the grace of prayer and God will not deny such a prayer though it be made in weak expressions for the heart may sigh out a faithful prayer and grone out our desires which the tongue cannot utter nor expresse Now then look well to the purity of thine affections and to the faithfulnesse of thy heart when thou art in the presence of God to hear his word that thy mind be not then about thy worldly affaires or thy thoughts set upon vain things if thou desirest to receive good thereby For if thou doest hear it with an unbelieving heart or full of worldly cares then thy heart is like barren ground where bryars and thornes grow which cannot receive such spiritual seed to bring forth fruit unto salvation Also in thy holy meditations on spiritual things thy heart must be first purified by faith or else thy meditations will not be comfortable to thy soul because thou hast not faith which is the instrument to draw true consolation from Christ So likewise when thou comest to the Lords Table see there be faith in thine eyes to discern the Lords body in those outward elements that thou mayest spiritually feed on him to nourish thy soul to eternal life When thou makest thy supplications to God believe faithfully that thou shalt receive what thou beggest and then thy prayers will not return empty without a blessing In like manner if thy humiliation for thy sinnes be not a fruit of faith but onely in outward shew and not in the sincerity of thy heart with true contrition and godly sorrow for them thy humiliation is no better m 1 Kin. 21. 27. than that of Ahab which produced no reformation of life Also if thou doest confesse thy sinnes when any sore affliction is upon thee and doest not faithfully purpose to forsake them and turn to the Lord thou doest dissemble with God in thy heart and canst not believe that God will forgive them for thy confession is no better n Exod. 9. 27 28. then that of Pharaoh and thou canst have no comfort in such repentance because it is not a fruit of faith for it is onely faith that doth perfect all thy services to God in their righteousnesse of Christ Fourthly we have no defence against the temptations and wicked suggestions of the devill and against the rage of our spiritual enemies but the shield of faith his fiery darts will wound our soules even to the death o Eph. 6. 16. if we doe not quench them in the bloud of Christ by faith his temptations will pierce us to the heart if we doe not beat them back with this impenitrable shield Also he layeth his snares every where so cunningly in our way that we can hardly take a step but we shall step into a snare p Psal 26. 11 12. if we doe not walk in our integriy by faith that our feet may stand in an even place There is no place secure and no condition of life is free from the snares of the devill he layeth them in our calling upon our table in our chambers and closets and under our feet so that every step we take out of the way of godlinesse is an occasion to bring us into his snares and we have no meanes to escape them but to walk in the light of the Spirit of God which we cannot have but by faith in Christ If we walk thus by the direction of his Spirit then as the wise man saith q Prov. 28. 18 26. we walk uprightly and we shall be saved we walk wisely and we shall be delivered But if we have not this spiritual light to guide us we walk in darknesse r Job 18. 8 9 10. we are cast into a net by our own feet and we walk upon a snare The grin shall take us by the heel and the robber shall prevail against us The snare is laid for us in the ground and a trap for us in the way Now then Å¿ Isa 50. 11. if we walk in the light of our own fire and in the sparkes that we have kindled this we shall have of Gods hand we shall lye down in sorrow Thus do spirituall dangers continually attend us which of our selves we cannot escape but if we trust in the Name of the Lord and rest our selves upon God by faith t Psal 91. 3 he will deliver us from the snare of the fowler he will direct us in all our wayes and will guide our feet into the way of peace u Jer 10. 23 For the way of man is not in himself as saith the Prophet it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps If we are taken in any of these snares that the devil layeth for us we have no meanes of recovery but by faith and true repentance for faith in Christ will break the snare and repentance will draw us out of the pit which did threaten our destruction Consider again that the devil laboureth to insnare us with the alluring baits of pleasure and profit thereby to draw away our hearts and affections from God this is a cunning way to deceive us for we suspect no danger and no evill in those things unto which we are naturally inclined so that we may easily be deceived with these guilded baits for without a spiritual light we cannot see the hook that is in them which will pull us into the pit of perdition n 2 Cor. 11. 14. Thus the devil can transform himself into an Angel of light x Mat. 24. 24. to deceive if it were possible the very elect The devil hath so many wayes to intrap us that we cannot passe thorough this dangerous ocean without shipwrack except Christ be our Pilot by faith to steer our hearts and affections and all the faculties of our soules with his Spirit and then we shall escape all these rocks and quicksands which doe continually threaten the ruine and destruction of our poor soules We cannot mount above this black cloud of deadly snares and dangers without the wings of faith and we cannot break the cords of sin without the strength of faith in the death of Christ neither can we get out of the dominion of sin without the power of the same faith in Christ Such is the goodnesse of our
should highly prize our Faith because it is the principall grace that the holy Ghost worketh in our hearts and it maketh all other graces profitable and effectuall to us according to their severall natures Our repentance is not sound and true if it be not a fruit of Faith for we cannot truly humble our selves before God and freely confesse our sins unto him with a contrite heart if we do not look upon him as our mercifull Father by Faith in Christ that we may have good hope of the pardon of our sins neither can we shew any fruits of repentance by mortifying the corruptions of our nature but by the vertue and power of Christs death which we must draw to our selves by Faith and also by our regeneration to newnesse of life but by the power of his resurrection which we must also have by faith Our repentance can give us no holy assurance of the remission of our sins if we do not believe that Christ hath fully satisfied the justice of God for them all by the merit of his death g Lu. 21. 19 We cannot possesse our souls in patience when we suffer afflictions and tribulations and when we are under the crosse if we do not belive that Christ hath sanctified our sufferings to make them work for our good and that h Act. 14. 22 through much tribulation we must enter into the Kingdom of heaven We cannot love God with true filiall love nor obey him with filiall reverence and fear if we are not perswaded of our adoption in Christ by Faith i Mat. 10. 42 Our works of charity will not be accepted unlesse they are done in Faith as to the Disciples of Christ and then we shall not lose our reward Thus doth Faith put life and vigour into all other graces to make them effectuall and powerfull for our sanctification and for the spirituall comfort of our souls which is a special consideration to make us account of our faith as a principall Grace without which we can have no hope of salvation Thirdly k Mat. 13. 46 Faith is that Pearl of great price which the Merchant man in the Gospel found and sold all that he had to buy it for no humane learning no abilities of nature no wealth or riches can purchase we must renounce our trust in all these before we can buy this rich pearl for it is above the strength of nature to attain unto it and no power of men or Angels can procure it but we must have it of the holy Ghost he keeps it in his own power and we may have it of him without money and without price if in the true humiliation of our spirits we beg it of him But if we seek to buy this pearl of the world we shall pay dear for it and yet not have the right Pearl the lustre of these pearls can reach no further than to the object of the eye but the lustre of this true Orientall Pearl will shine in all dark places of woe and misery and it will pierce the very heavens to the eye of God himself Notwithstanding we do so highly value the pearls that nature or this world doth afford us that we will take any pains or be at any cost to gain some of them though they are of no worth to rest upon when we are in any spirituall misery whatsoever but as for this precious Pearl we are loath to part with any thing for it that by nature is near or dear to us or wherein we take pleasure and delight Thus we delude our selves with vain hopes and we rest upon that which cannot help because we know not the worth of true Faith to make it the instrument of our trust and confidence in God through Christ Let this consideration also advance the estimation of Faith in our hearts and affections because by it we gain Christ with all his excellencies and in Christ we gain the injoyment of the grace and favour of God and the assurance of eternall salvation Wherefore if this be the transcendent worth of true Faith we should then with all care and diligence seek out where it is to be had and labour by all means to obtain it If God seeth this holy desire in us he will then give us to understand by his Spirit that this rich pearl is no where to be found but in his own Cabinet also he will prepare our hearts and our will for it he will anoint our eyes with spirituall eye-salve to finde it and he will direct us to the means how we may obtain it First therefore we must know l Eph 2. 8. 8. that Faith is onely the gift of God which he bestoweth upon whom be pleaseth m Eph. 1. 19 and he works it in us by his mighty power Secondly God will give us hearts to seek it of him by fervent Prayer which is a powerfull means to obtain any thing of God Thirdly his Spirit will go along with the Preaching of his Word that if we hear it with sincere affections it may work Faith in us n Rom. 10. 17. for faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God Lastly when we have found this precious Pearl in his Word God will make us willing to buy it though we give for it our souls and all the faculties thereof our hearts our affections and all the parts of our bodies all which must be given up to the Lord or else we cannot injoy true faith and yet this is not all for we must empty our selves of all conceit of our own worth and quite renounce all confidence in worldly things all sinfull pleasures and every sin that presseth us down or that cleaveth close to us or else we cannot obtain this precious Pearl of God Fourthly we may conceive that Faith is of great estimation because it is so rarely found upon earth Thus saith our Saviour Christ concerning Faith o Lu. 18. 8. When the Son of man cometh shall he finde faith on the earth It is such a rare Jewell as is scarcely to be found few do injoy it and none can rightly esteem of it but onely such as have it p Rev. 2. 17. Christ promiseth to give a white stone to him that overcometh and in this stone a new name is written which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it We cannot obtain this white stone of purity righteousnesse and true holinesse but by Faith whereby we are cloathed with the righteousnesse of Christ which is this white stone also we shall know this new name that is written in it for by Faith we shall put on Christ and shall be made new creatures to live as becometh new Christians in newnesse of life and in uprightnesse of conversation It is true which Paul saith q 2 Thes 3. 2. that all men have not faith for there is so much wickednesse fraud deceit and unbelief among men that true faith can hardly be found is it is
which God requireth FOL 1 Rules of direction for our holy Meditations 4 Holy Meditation is the Prerogative onely of a true Christian 9 How dreadfull it is to Meditate on God 12 How to Meditate comfortably on God 20 How to Meditate on the Holy Ghost 30 How to Meditate on the Works of God 48 Concerning the Creation of Man 60 To what end and purpose Man was Created 64 Concerning the Fall of Man 69 Concerning the Redemption of Man 73 The Time of Grace 80 The danger of delayes in seeking Grace 92 Of Christ our Redeemer 97 Of Christs Propheticall Office 106 Of Christs Priestly Office 112 Of Christs Kingly Office 116 Of the Passion of Christ 121 Of Christs Agony in the Garden 128 Concerning the fidelity of Peter and the creachery of Judas 141 What Christ suffered under Caiaphas 157 Peters deniall of Christ 165 Christs sufferings under Pilate 179 Christs sufferings under the Crosse 201 Who were the Agents in the Passion of Christ 211 Of the Penitent Thief 214 Of the Virgin Mary 216 The darkning of the Sun 235 Of the death of our Saviour Christ 248 What happened at Christs death 255 Of the buriall of Christ 261 A brief summe of the Humiliation of Christ 266 Of the Resurrection of Christ 270 Of Christs Ascension up into heaven 275 A brief summe of the Exaltation of Christ 279 Our Aduantage and gain by Christ in this life 282 Our Advantage and gain by Christ in death 290 Our Advantage and gain by Christ after death 296 How Christ is our spirituall life 303 How to injoy true happinesse 314 Concerning our Justification 318 The Benefits and Comforts of true Faith 322 How to increase Faith 329 How to esteem of Faith 333 The sense of Faith may be lost 341 The Stability of true Faith 346 The Conclusion of this Treatise 354 THE COMFORT OF THE SOVL. Meditation is a Duty which God requireth WE read in the sacred Scriptures that God commanded his people a Deut. 6. 8 9. to binde the Words of his Law for a sign upon their hands and to be as frontlets between their eyes to write them upon the posts of their houses and on their gates to teach them diligently unto their children to talk of them in their houses and to think upon them when they walk by the way when they lye down and when they rise up all which was to this end and purpose b Deut. 11 18. that they might lay up his Words in their hearts and in their soules to meditate upon them for their instruction for their spirituall comfort and for their direction in a vertuous life and holy Conversation This is the counsell of the wiseman c Prov. 7. 3 To binde the Commandments of God upon our fingers and to write them upon the table of our hearts that we may be familiarly acquainted with them and to meditate on them upon all occasions Paul gave Timothy diverse holy precepts concerning his life and doctrine d 1 Tim. 4. 15 and then he gave him expresse charge to meditate upon them and to give himself wholy to them that they might be well fastned in his heart to observe them Also when Moses was dead God made Joshua the chief commander of his people and appointed him to bring them into the land of Canaan and to give them the possession of it which was a work so great so difficult and so dangerous by reason of the great strength of the inhabitants of that Land as might make Joshua to shrink from it and afraid to undertake it but God did encourage him by many gracious promises of his assistance to make him able to effect it and therefore he commanded him three severall times to be strong and of a good courage not to be afraid but to rest upon his Word for strength and ability to do that work whereunto God had called him and would assuredly perform his Word if he did observe to do according to all the Law which Moses commanded him and not turn from it to the right hand or to the left that he might prosper whithersoever he went Wherefore God saith thus unto him e Josh 1. 8. This book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth but thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou maist observe to do according to all that is written therein for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then thou shalt have good successe Have not I commanded thee This is an holy duty which ought to be fixed upon holy things and performed to an holy end for it is very usefull and profitable very sweet and comfortable to every true Believers soul if it be rightly performed The Saints and servants of God have been very frequent in the practice of this duty whose hearts were inlarged to meditate upon heavenly spiritual things they did thereby draw true consolation to their souls f Psal 63. 6 This was holy Davids exercise day and night g Psal 119. sometimes in the precepts and Statutes of God h Psal 143. 5. sometimes on his wonderfull Acts and excellent Works i Psal 104. 34 and his heart found great sweetnesse in these his Meditations Now then it is richly worth our pains to get this Art of Divine Meditation for it will increase our knowledge of God and of his Laws it will make grace more fruitfull in us and our sorrows lesse grievous It will also strengthen our faith in the promises of God to make us stout and couragious in his Cause to withstand the assaults of the divell and all the oppositions of wicked men How can we be edified by the Preaching of the Word of God if we let it depart out of our mindes and do not chew the cud and ruminate upon it in our hearts How can we teach our children and servants the Lawes of God if they come not frequently into our own meditations How can our wayes be prosperous here upon earth how can we hope to have good successe in what we take in hand if we do not meditate something concerning God day and night If we neglect this pious Duty we do then estrange our selves from God and we bereave our souls of those spirituall benefits and comforts which otherwise they might receive and we lose a great part of the comfort of our lives But this Art is not easily learned common grace or humane learning cannot attain unto it for the affections of the heart cannot be raised up to heavenly contemplations if they are not seasoned with sanctifying grace neither can they delight in spirituall things if they are clogged with earthly cares or drawn away after worldly vanities A true child of God is not alwayes prepared to meditate as he ought to make his meditations edifying and comfortable to his soul for the inward corruptions of his unregenerate part will hinder him the thoughts of his worldly affairs will distract his minde that he cannot
from the Lords own mouth that it is the property of a good shepheard t Ezec. 34. 3 4 to feed the flock to strengthen the diseased to heal the sick to bind up that which is brokâ—n to bring again that which is driven away to seek that which is lost and to protect his flock from the danger of the wolf Isaiah did prophesie thus of Christ u Isa 40. 11 He shall feed his flock like a shepheard he shall grather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosome and shall gently lead those that are with young This tender care Christ hath over every lamb and every sheep that belongeth to his fould If we are then his sheep u Ioh. 10. 3 4. we know his voice we will hear it we will follow him and obey his voice Thus saith David x Iâ—sal 23. the Lord is my shepheard I shall not want If the Lord be our shepheard then surely our shepheard is the Lord Iehovah under whose shadow we shall be preserved and from whom we shall receive all sweet consolation and refreshing Thus saith the Lord by his Prophet y Eze. 34. 23 And I will set up one shepheard over them and he shall feed them even my servant David which is Christ the Lord. Fourthly Christ is resembled z Rev. 2 2. 2. to the tree of life which did bear twelve manner of fruits and yielded her fruit every moneth and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the Nations Now then a Cant. 2. 3. if we sit down under the shadow of this tree we shall find great pleasure and delight we shall be preserved from the heat of Gods wrath we shall be refreshed thereby in the scorching heat of afflictions and fiery tryals and under this shadow the burning heat of our sinful lusts will be cooled and asswaged If we feed upon the fruit of this tree by faith which is the body of Christ crucified upon the Cross and his blood powred out it will be sweet and pleasant to our spiritual tast b Iohn 6. 5â— for it will â—e the bread of life to make us live for ever c Ioh. 4. 14. and his blood will be a fountain of living water which will spring up in us unto euerlasting life The leaves of this tree are his gracious promises which will heal and cure all the spiritual diseases and wounds that our sins have made in our souls if we do apply them to every particular wound by faith Lastly Christ is resembled to a bridegroom and then the whole Church of God and every true believer is his spouse and his bride That is that which Iohn the Baptist said d Iohn 3. 29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom which he then spake of Christ Now there is a wonderful joy and rejoicing between the bridegroom and the bride and the Prophet expresseth Gods rejoicing over his people by this mutual joy that is between them e Isa 62. 5 As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride so shall thy God rejoice over thee Who can describe the perfect love of Jesus Christ to his spouse who can declare the loving affections of the bridegroom towards his bride what excellent benefits doth he bestow upon her of his own bounty and grace without any of her deservings though she hath many spots blemishes yet he will not forsake her but will sanctifie her and make her holy chast and pure fit to be his spouse being adorned with his own ornaments of grace This doth evidently appear in that excellent song of Solomon where the admirable love of Christ to his spouse is expressed and also the intire affection of the Church unto him This is Christ our gracious Redeemer and these are some of the heavenly comforts that we shall enjoy by him if we can imbrace him by faith as our blessed Saviour and bridegroom of our souls We may now draw much comfortable matter from these several resemblances of Christ for the strengthning of our weak faith and for the supporting of our drooping spirits also they will afford us excellent matter for our instruction to teach us how to demean our selves towards him and where to find true comfort in time of need If we are branches of this vine we shall draw grace and vertue from him to make us fruitful in all good works to walk uprightly before God and to live comfortable in what estate or condition soever we be If Christ be our head we will be directed by him in all our wayes we will seek unto him for protection against all our enemies for preservation from all casualties and dangers and for deliverance out of all our troubles also that we may receive from him some influence of spiritual grace without which we cannot move one step toward heaven If Christ be our shepheard then we must be harmless and meek as his lambs our ear must be open to his voice we must follow him and none but him f Psa 2. 2. 3 for he will make us to lye down in green pastures he will lead us forth beside the waters of comforts and will bring us forth in the paths of righteousness and will also plentifully provide for us though his rod of correction or his staffe be upon us yet they shall be for our great benefit and consolation So likewise if we can shroud our selves by faith under the shadow of this tree of life it will greatly refresh our souls and we may find cure for all our spiritual diseases by applying the promises of the Gospel and the merit of Christs sufferings to our selves by faith But above all if we can feed upon the blessed fruit of this tree by faith in the hearing of the Word preached in the worthy receiving of the Lords Supper and in our devout and zealous meditations on Christ crucified for us it will nourish us up to eternal life Lastly if we are betrothed unto Christ by faith he will then rejoyce over us to do us good he will make us pure and holy and will hide all our deformities of sin under the robe of his own righteousness out of Gods sight and will adorne us with his own spiritual and heavenly graces that we may be lovely in his sight and fit to be wedded unto him for ever hereafter in the Kindome of heaven We are also bound by vertue of this our union to love Christ with pure affections to honour him above all and to keep our selves from spiritual fornication thaâ— the may delight in us to do us good and never to leave and forsake us The consideration of these things is well worthy our serious and devout meditations because hereby we shall the better know Christ our Redeemer and we shall draw neerer into communion with him who is the fountain of all true consolation and the onely meritorious cause of our salvation by that redemption which he hath wrought for us This knowledge of
outward ministration of it to make it profitable and comfortable to our souls Examine now thy self what impression the doctrine of Christ hath made in thy heart which thou hast often heard sincerely preached and how thou hast been profited by it what knowledge thou hast gained in heavenly things how thou art confirmed in the truth of Gods Word how thy faith in Christ is established what hope thou hast of eternal salvation and how firmly thy faith is grounded upon the promises of God Also how thou art humbled for thy sins and what reformation of life it hath wrought in thee what patience and meekness of Spirit thou hast in thy sufferings what zeal for the glory of God what constancy in thy tryals and what love thou bearest to thy neighbour these and the like benefits thou maist have by the Word of God if thou art a profitable hearer of it If upon due examination of thy self thou doest find any of these operations of the Spirit of God in thee it is a sure evidence that he hath made thee a profitable hearer of his Word Many did hear Christs doctrine from his own mouth and yet they received no good by it so thou maist hear his holy Word and be no whit the better for it if it be not preached as wel to thy heart by the Holy Ghost as it is to thine ear by his Ministers Oh consider how many worthy sermons thou hast heard without profit what thou hast been taught and yet not edified nor reformed because thou didst hear them with uncircumcised ears and with a poluted and unbelieving heart for thy heart is naturally unfit to receive the heavenly doctrine of Christ until rhe holy Ghost doth prepare it and season it with grace that it may bring forth fruit unto newness of life o Hos 10. 12 There is so much fallow ground in us which is barren and unfruitful that the good seed of the Word of God cannot be sown to us in righteousness to reap the fruits of it in mercy untâ—l the holy Ghost breaks up this fallow ground with the power of his sanctifying grace neither can we seek the Lord that he may come and rain righteousness upon us Wherfore p Ier. 4. 4. we must be circumcised to the Lord and the foreskins of our hearts must be taken away and the vail that is upon our understandings must be removed and we must be purified by faith before we can be made fruitful in an holy and vertuous conversation by the Ministry of the word Wherefore imbrace the holy doctrine of Christ with pure affections lay it up in a clean heart and ruminate upon it in thy serious meditations that it may abide with thee to make thee grow dayly in grace vertue and godliness until thou comest to a full stature in Christ Consider therefore and observe how thou art inwardly affected when thou hearest it what delight thou hast in it and what impression of grace it makes in thy heart for if thou delightest in the Lords Sabbath and rejoicest when his Word soundeth in thine ears q Luc. 5. 41 as the babe did leap for joy in Elizabeths wombe when she heard the salutation of the Virgin Mary because Christ was then in the Virgins wombe thou art then in a blessed and comfortable condition r Isa 58. 13 14. and thy soul shall delight in the Lord who shall feed thee with the heritage of Jacob. Christ doth also teach us what we ought to do by his works that we dayly see both of justice and of mercy which are his silent Preachers and therefore they ought to be carefully regarded for there is no act of his but is intended for our instruction Noah was many years in building the Ark which was a long sermon to teach the world of the ungodly what God intended to do God Å¿ 1 Pet. 3. 20 waited then for their repentance and conversion an hundred and twenty years while the Ark was a preparing t 2 Pet. 2. 5 Noah also was a Preacher of righteousness to them all that time and did warn them of the wrath of God which did hang over their heads for their sins Thus doth God also deal with us for he doth visit us with sickness he doth teach us thereby to prepare our selves for the hour of dissolution and to perfect our account which we must make to the great Judge of heaven and earth at the last day that so we may willingly resign up our selves unto God when death shall part them from our bodies When God suffereth us to fall into temptations then he calls us to pray for his assisting grace for strength of faith and for constancy to stand out against the devil to the end that he may give us the crown of victory If he doth visit us with losses troubles or afflictions it is to teach us patience and meekness and to humble our selves under the hand of God until he doth deliver us If he doth chastise us for our sins it is to bring us to repentance When God bestoweth his blessing upon us or removeth the cross from us u Ps 50. 15 then he calls for a thankful remembrance of his mercy and goodness to us howsoever God dealeth with us either in judgement or in mercy it should teach us to glorifie him as well in our sufferings as for his blessings Thus God doth teach and instruct us what we should do and how to obey his will both by his Word and by his Works and as our ear must be open to his Word that it may be conveyed to our hearts by the holy Ghost so we should dayly observe the Works of God and how he dealeth with us that our hearts may receive instruction and our tongues may blesse his great and glorious name Wherefore we ought to listen to Gods voice in them that our hearts may return an answer of obedience agreeable to his will Of Christs Priestly Office GOd did also ordain Christ to be a Priest accord-to this of David a Ps 110. 4. The Lord sware â—nd will not repent Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck He was anointed to his office not with the material oyl of the sanctuary but with the spiritual unction of the holy Ghost when he was baptized and he did execute it partly by his prayers which he did frequently offer up to God his father for all his elect in the dayes of his flesh and partly by that sacrifice which he offered up upon the cross at his death b Heb 7. 24 25. Christs priesthood is unchangeable and eternal for he is still our High-priest and ever liveth to make intercession for us and therefore he is able also to save us to the uttermost that come unto God by him c Heb. 8. We have such a High-priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heaven d Heb. 7. 26 27. For
such an High-priest became us who is holy harmless undefiled separate from sins and made higher than the heavens When Christ did offer up himself a sacrifice to God his whole humane nature was bound to the altar of his Divinity with the cordes of unseparable union and love e Isa 53. 10 and his soul was made an offering for sinne as well as his body which was crucified and his precious blood which was poured out upon the Cross f Heb. 7. 27. This sacrifice though it were but once offered was sufficient to satisfie the justice of God to appease his wrath to blot all our sins out of his book of remembrance and to perfect for ever them that are sanctified This is also piously to be considered g Rev. 1. 6. that Christ by his eternal Priesthood hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father h 1 Pet. 2. 5 and an holy Priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ These sacrifices are our prayers our praises thanksgivings and a broken and a contrite heart for our sins i Phil. 4. 1â— also our deeds of charity to the poor members of Christ are and odour of a sweet smell a sacrifice acceptable an well pleasing to God Paul did beseech the Romans k Rom. 12. 1 to present their bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable to God which is their reasonable service so that whatsoever we offer unto God it must be offered with a sanctified heart which is washed and purified in the blood of Christ by faith and indued with sanctifying grace from above and then our sacrifice will be clean and accepted of God Though our prayers and praises be imperfect and come farre short of that which they ought to be yet if they proceed from a sincere heart and are offered up by Iesus Christ our High-Priest then he will perfect them with his own righteousness and present them to God his Father for us and we may rest assured that God will be pleased to accept them graciously Wherefore seeing Christ hath made us Priests unto God because we belong unto him we must offer up our prayers and oblations to God and not to Saints or Angels for he is the author and the giver of every blessing and mercy that we receive he provideth for us food and raiment and whatsoever is needful both for this present life and for that which is to come he doth protect us from dangers he doth support us in our tribulations and delivereth us out of our distresses when we cry unto him with a faithful heart We have therefore great cause to ascribe all honour and glory unto him and thankfully to acknowledge that God is the sole author of all our good to whom we must return all praise and thanks for it Also if our prayers and oblations have no relation unto Christ by faith they cannot be accepted neither can we confidently hope to receive a gracious return of them with a blessing except we believe that Christ our Advocate will present them to God his Father If we did duly consider how much we stand in need of Gods helping hand and of his assisting grace to carry us on through all the troubles and dangers that we shall meet with in this life also how God doth continually follow us with his tender mercies and loving kindness we would not be so slack in our prayers and praises unto him and if we did consider that our prayers must mount up even to the throne of Gods Majesty they would not be so cold so dull and so much clog'd with worldly cares and sinful thoughts as commonly they are which doth hinder their swift ascent up to heaven but we would labour to be more heavenly minded and to put more holy zeal and fervency into them and to send our faith along with them which will soon bring them unto Christ and then he will present them unto God for us So likewise if we consider how careless we are in the worship and service of God how ready we are to fall from him how imperfectly our best duties are performed what sins we dayly commit and what wrath and fury we do justly deserve for them we should then be more humble more affected with godly sorrow and more carefull to renew our repentance every day our sighs and groans for our sinnes would proceed from our hearty contrition and from true compunction of spirit and then our faith in Christ will give us a firm assurance of the pardon and forgivness of them all for thus saith the Lord l Isa 66. 2. To this man will I look even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my word Also m Isa 57. 15 Thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity whose name is holy I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones Wherefore now if we think to have our wants and necessities supplied by our industry in our callings without prayer if we think to be supported in our troubles or to be delivered out of our miseries with prayer to be nourished at our tables or refreshed in our beds without prayer and to be eased of our paines or recovered of our diseases without prayer we shall either miss our desires or else we shall have them without a blessing We cannot conceive how prevailing faithful prayer is with God if it be presented to him by Christ Thus saith James n Jam. 5. 15 16 17 18 The prayer of faith shall save the sick and if he commit sins they shall be forgiven him And again The effectual servent prayer of a righteous man availeth much Elias prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six moneths and he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit o Gen. 20. 17 At the prayer of Abraham God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maid servants and they bare children p 1 Sam. 1. By prayer Hannah obtained a sonne q Exod. 32. 11. Moses by prayer did stop the flud gates of Gods fury that were ready to be poured out upon his own people for their idolatry in worshipping the golden calf By prayer we may obtain any blessings from God and escape any judgement that he hath threatned Likewise our interest that we have in Christ by faith will make our praises and thanksgivings to God for blessings received to be accepted and will also make them not to return empty again into our bosomes If our repentance for our sinnes be without faith in Christ it will give us no good assurance of pardon though we do express all the outward signes of true humiliation and though we break our hearts with grief yet we can
he smote him with his sword and he died n 2 Sam. 13. 28 29. Thus treacherously did Absalom kill his brother Amnon when he invited him to a feast in his own house The Disciples did little think that Judas betrayed his Master when he came and saluted him with a kiss but Christ knew it who is the searcher of all hearts and none but he could know it for he knew what he had done with the Rulers what compact and bargain he had made with them and what he did further purpose and intend to doe and therefore he said unto him o Luke 22. 4◠Judas betrayest thou the Son of man with a kisse Thus saith a reverent Divine It is a special cunning of the devill and it is full of danger to put a smiling and an alluring countenance upon his baits as he doth by his temptations of profit and gain which like unseen bullets wound and kill before they are discerned or like the viper that putting us to no pain brings us into a pleasing slumber of security which endeth in the dead sleep of death and condemnation For prosperity and worldly allurements hide hostility under the pretence of friendship and makes us love the weapons that hurt us and to refuse the meanes whereby we may be cured and these make conquest not onely of our power and strength but also of our hearts wills and affections and they retain us in a voluntary servitude having no desire to come out of this pleasing bondage or to recover our liberty though the meanes be offered to us This is the policy and subtle cunning of the devil to beguile poor soules with such fair pretences for in their smiles and fawnings he doth secretly attempt their ruine and destruction Consider further p Mat. 10. 1 8. that when Jesus sent forth his twelve Disciples to preach he gave unto them all power against unclean spirits to cast them out to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease to cleanse the lepers and to raise the dead they had freely received these gifts of him and therefore they should freely dispense them Judas had the same power and received the same gifts with the rest of the Disciples but because his heart was not seasoned with sanctifying grace though he did cure others yet he could not cure himself and though q 1 Cor. 9. 29. he did preach to others yet he himself was a cast-away he had the gift of preaching but not the grace of preaching he had faith to work miracles but not the grace of faith unto justification and to rest and confide in Christ for his salvation These gifts of the holy Ghost are sometimes given to unregenerate men and yet they are no whit neerer to the Kingdome of Heaven Wherefore let no man rest secure of his salvation because he hath such excellent gifts for except the holy Ghost doth conferre sanctifying grace with his gifts they will not be effectuall to salvation We may have the gift of prayer of temperance of continency of patience and of all morall vertues and yet if we have not the grace of prayer that we can pray in faith and the grace of all other vertues as being the fruits of faith they will not be acceptable to God nor profitable to us for the salvation of our soules Wherefore if God hath given us the gifts of his Spirit and the meanes of grace we ought to use his gifts to his glory and to improve the meanes of grace for the sanctifying of his gifts unto us that we may 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to eternal life Let this be our dayly study and constant care to inrich our soules with true saving grace and then the devill cannot so easily undermine us and we shall be so watchful over our wayes that no iniquity shall cleave to our souls For if the devill can fasten any one sin upon us he will soon link another sin to that and will draw us on from sin to sin untill they make a strong chain which will pull us down into the pit of destruction unlesse we break every link of this chain with true repentance Also if we be thus watchful it will keep us from security and from presuming upon our own strength in times or places of danger r Psa 119. 37. and we shall turn our eyes from beholding vanity and refuse the false favours which the world doth promise us for the fear of God will be alwayes before our eyes and then we may be confident ſ Psa 91. 11 that God will give his Angels charge over us to keep us in all our wayes lest at any time we dash our feet against a stone or least we stumble at those blocks which the devill layeth in our way t Mat. 26. 41. Christ hath commanded us to watch and pray that we enter not into temptation u Eph. 6. 13. and he hath given us spiritual armour and weapons of defence which we must take unto our selves that we may be able to resist in the evill day Let us learn u Psa 58. 5. the wisdome of the Serpent by stopping our eares against their charming perswasions and by suspecting most their malicious attempts when with greatest shew of love they smile and fawn upon us We must now consider by the example of Judas that unlesse the Spirit of God doth accompany the use of all his holy Ordinances we may outwardly partake of them but we shall not inwardly be edified by them neither shall we find any spiritual consolation in the use of them because there is no efficacious working of the holy Ghost in our hearts the outward man may be affected for the present but the inward man cannot be edified for there will be no illumination wrought in the understāding to conceive rightly of heavenly things no true conformity in the will to the will of God no holy zeal in the heart and affections and no pious Reformation will be wrought in the life and conversation x 2 The 〈◊〉 2. All men have not faith as saith the Appostle all men do not profit by the meanes of salvation and all men are not edified by the preaching of the Word of God We may joyn with the Congregation in hearing in praying in singing of Psalmes some shall receive comfort and instruction others shall receive no benefit thereby we may also partake with them in the Lords Supper and we may feed our bodies with the outward Elements in that Sacrament but we shall never feed and nourish our souls to eternal life with that spirituall Grace which is signified by them except our hearts are prepared to receive it through the sanctification of the Spirit we may eat and drink the Bread and Wine but we cannot eat and drink the Body and Blood of Christ but onely by faith our souls may languish and starve for want of heavenly food and nourishment if the milk of Gods word and this spirituall food
be not conveyed to our hearts by faith as it iâ— to the ear and to the hand by the Minister also if the holy Ghost doth not give us a spirituall appetite to it that our heartâ— may spiritually feed upon it it will not be the sweet savour of life unto life unto us but rather the savour of death unto death If the devill can bereave us of the benefites that come by the meanes of Grace and make us lose the opportunity of it and can keep us from the true knowledge of God and of his Son Jesus Christ as he did Judas he will then lead us on in a sinful and wicked course of life until he doth bring us to eternal perdition Thus by degrees he brought Judas from infidelitie to hardness of heart after he had taken possession of him until at last he fell into despair and became his own executioner for his damnable treason against his Lord and Master for presentlie after he hanged himself y Act. 1. 8. he burst asunder in the midst and all his bowels gushed out Thus did God give him his just reward for his horrible sin and impiety against Christ and yet he was one of his Disciples and had as much means of grace as the rest had and also as many common and external gifts of the Spirit as they had and did see the great works that Christ had done And thus will God shew his justice and judgements upon impenitent and notorious offenders that are so hardned in their sins that no meanes of Grace can bring them to Repentance Now examine thy self thou that dailie seest the wonderful works of God if thou canst look beyond nature and see his power and wise providence in them if thou canst discern the finger of God when great men are brought down and men of low degree are exalted also if thou canst see how God will bring to pass his own designs against all opposition of wicked men and that he can discover the hellish plots and maginations of the Devil and his instruments z Plal. 7. 15. and will make them fall into the same pit which they have digged for others a Esth 1. 10. as he did unto wicked Haman If thou seest these and the like things come to pass thou must believe that it is the work of God for his own glory and the good of his Church Peter did see the great works of Christ he did believe that they were wrought by the power of his divine nature Judas did also see the same works but he could not discern the divinity of Christ in them If thy condition be like unto that of Peter that thou canst see a divine power in the great works that are wrought here upon earth and that God by his wisdom and providence can dispose of all the troublesome chances and changes that happen here either in Church or State to his own glory to the good of his people and to the confusion of his and their enemies then thou doest rightlie understand the waies of God by a spiritual illumination that is in thy heart But if with Judas thou canst no discern Gods divine power in his works on earth to over-rule all adversarie power b Psal 2. 2. though they rage in fury and take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed then thine understanding is blinded and thou liest open to all kind of dangers and distractions of mind Search again into thine own heart thou that livest where the Gospel of Christ is sincerely preached and his holie Sacraments rightlie and duly administered and examine thy self with what affections thou doest come to those holie Ordinances of God what grace is wrought in thee and how thy faith is strengthened by them how much sin is weakned and how thy life is reformed Also examine what spiritual life thou hast what fruits it doth bring forth what care thou hast to nourish it by thy profitable hearing of the Word of God and by thy worthy receiving of the Lords Supper if thou canst give a good account that thou hast spent thy time profitably and hast improved the means of grace to the best advantage then thou art a faithful servant to thy Lord and Master Jesus Christ as Peter was But if this heavenlie food will not please thy palate it cannot nourish and comfort thy soul because thou hast some secret corruptions or some beloved sin that keeps the sweet influence of grace from thy heart and then thou wilt reap as little benefit by the Word of God and by his holie Ordinances as wretched Judas did though he heard Christ himself preach to him Surely God doth still send down this heavenlie Manna blessed be his holie name for it and thou maiest gather it for the nourishment and comfort of thy soul if thou wilt but if thou canst find no spiritual sweetness in it thy taste is not then spiritual but it is dulled with worldly cares or sinful pleasures which must be purged out of thy heart by the blood of Christ before thou canst with Peter take pleasure and delight to hear the words of Christ c John 6. 68 which are the words of eternall life and before thou canst make it the joy of thy heart to meditate on the Statutes of God How canst thou hazard thy life for Christ as Peter did and for the truth of his Gospel if thou art not well instructed and a good proficient in his School And how canst thou live a spirituall life to God if thy heart hath not sucked vertue and power from Christ by faith who is the fountain of this water of life and of this coelestial food to nourish thee up to everlasting life Look now a little upon Peters zeal for his Masters safety he resisted those that came to apprehend him d John 18. 10 11. and smote the high Priests servant but Christ cured the wound and rebuked Peter for it because his zeal was not well grounded for he did endeavour to hinder him in the work which God had appointed him to do concerning mans redemption and therefore Christ said unto him The cup which my father hath given me shall I not drink it This may teach us to drink willingly any cup of affliction that our heavenly Father shall give us for it must needs be good and profitable to us if we receive it from God as from the hand of our Father Also that holy zeal or fervency of spirit in Gods Cause is a duty which he requireth and his servants do practise it yet it must be regulated according to knowledge and to the glory of God for blind zeal will lead us into many errours Davids zeal was rightly regulated e Psal 119. 139. My zeal saith he hath consumed me because thine enemies have forgotten thy words f Num. 25. 11 12. Such was the zeal of Phinehas in the matter of Zimri and Cozby which turned away the wrath of God from the
but when they saw Christ in so mean a condition they were offended in him and refused him according to this of Paul p 1 Cor. 1. 23. that Christ crucified was a stumbling block unto the Jewes and foolishnesse unto the Greeks If Caiaphas had rightly understood the Prophets he would have applied their Prophesies unto Christ that he came not to deliver them from the Romanes but to deliver them ouâ— of the bondage of sin and Satan also he had then understood by the words of Christ that he was both the Son of God and the Son of Man and though he stood before him in a contemptible manner and though his enemies did then insult over him yet they even they should hereafter see him sit in his humane nature at the right hand of God and also coming in the clouds of heaven at the last day to judge both the quick and the dead But he had no spirituall eye to discern the Divininity of Christ in this his despicable condition and he had no believing heart to give credite to his words though they were the words of truth and of eternall life but he made them an occasion of his death for presently upon this he delivers him up to Pilate the Romane Magistrate to be put to death for a blasphemer for the Regall Scepter was now taken from Judah and they had no power to put any man to death Here Meditate with pious affections upon the boundlesse mercy and bountifull goodnesse of God in offering grace to all Christ preacheth salvation even to those that did seek his life he revealeth unto them that were his deadly foes the greatest mystery that ever was to wit the incarnation of the eternall Son of God the exaltation of his humane nature and his glorious triumphing over all his enemies both spirituall and temporall at his second coming which will be at the great day of judgement q 1 Tim. 3. 16. This is the great mystery of godlinesse God manifested in the flesh justified in the Spirit seen of Angels preached unto the Gentiles believed on in the world received up into glory But behold and see the ingratitude of most men who will not receive the glad tidings of salvation though it be brought home to their houses except they may have it on their own conditions if they may still injoy the pleasures and vanities of the world their carnall delights and bosome sins they are willing to imbrace it but if they must part with these and must have it with crosses troubles persecutions and torments and with such like incumbrances they are willing then to be without it Proud men will not receive the Gospell of peace of such as are of no esteem or reputation and Caiaphas will not receive the meanes of grace from Christ himself nor learn the way to salvation of him because he was in bands and his spirituall pride would not suffer him to hearken to the heavenly doctrine of Christ as he was now in this sad condition because he conceived him to be a man of no extraordinary gifts or endowments But be thou O my soul alwayes ready and prepared to receive the Gospel of salvation with all humblenesse of mind meekness of spirit and with hearty and pure affections whensoever or howsoever it be brought to theee from Christ for this heavenly liquor coming from Christ may be as wholsome as comfortable and as profitable if it be brought in an earthen Pitcher as in a silver Cup so that it be purely tempered and that the holy Ghost doth joyn in the administration of it to bring it close home to all thy spiritual diseases that by faith in Christ thou maist be cured If the Gospel of Christ be sincerely preached thou wilt find it full of heavenly comfots and of holy directions for a pious life and conversation 2 Tim. 3. 16. for it is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction and for instruction in righteousnesse that thou maist be perfect and throughly furnished unto all good works If thou doest esteem of it according to the condition or quality of him that brings it and not according to its own worth or the honour and majesty of him that sends it thou doest then too much undervalue it and dost dishonour God himself that sendeth it For God hath wrought mighty things by weak meanes 1 Cor. 1. 27. he hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty Also t Jam. 2. 5. He hath chosen the poor of this world to make them rich in faith and in grace for grace is the true riches of the soul and this is the wealth which is most to be desired When God works great things by small means he is then most to be glorified u Judg. 7. 2. God brought down Gideons Army of two and thirty thousand to three hundred that he might have the honour of the overthrow of the Midianites that Israel might not vaunt themselves against him saying Mine own hand hath saved me The Apostles of Christ did many mighty works by their Ministerie though most of them were but poor Fishermen for they did not work by their own strength but they had their power and abilities from Christ 2 Cor. 5. 19 20. for they were his Ambassadors and the word of Reconciliation was committed to them Peters denial of CHRIST COnsider now by Peters example how weak the deâ—rest of Gods Servants are if he doth leave them to their own strength and how unable they are to resist any temptation if the Devil be permitted to assault them and if God doth with-draw his assisting Grace from them in their temptation For though Peter but a few hours before did stoutly oppose a Band of Souldiers in his Masters defence to the hazzard of his own life yet now he is surprised with sudden fear through the subtiltie of the Devil which did greatly shake and endanger his Faith We may very well conceive that it was not barely the words of the High Priests servants that made Peter fall so fearfullie a Mat. 26. 69. as to deny his Lord and Master three several times and that with bitter execrations seeing he loved him so dearlie and did so faithfullie promise not to forsake him though he should die with him But the Devil put a sting into their words which did strike Peter with deadlie fear that he should be brought into the like troubles as his Master was then in and also into danger of his life without doubt the Devil did use all means to aggravate these feares in Peter by his suggestions to make him forget his former promise and to abjure his beloved Master For doubtless he did suggest unto him That if Christ were the Son of God then surelie God would not suffer him to be thus shamefullie intreated or if Christ were able to help himself he would not endure such
ignominy and such blasphemies to be cast upon him and if he could not deliver himself then Peter would bring himself into many perils and dangers if he did acknowledge that he was one of his Disciples and the Priests and Elders would use him far worse than they did his Master Also if Christ had not some way or other offended though Peter did not know it the Priests and Elders would not be so cruellie bent against him These or the like suggestions the Devil did probably cast into Peters mind to increase his fears to weaken his faith and to overthrow that confidence which he had in Christ Thus the sting of that old Serpent went along with the words of a silly damosel which Peter did not suspect and they entered so deep into him that they poysoned his heart with unbelief and made him to denie that he was a follower of Jesus and also he began to curse and swear that he knew him not b Luk. 22 31 32. though Christ had told him that Satan desired to sift him as wheat and that he should thrice deny him before the Cock did crow which was to make him the more watchful over his words and the more careful of himself yet he did dangerously fall from his dear Lord and Master and he had not recovered himself if Christ had not prayed for him that his faith might not fail for he knew that Peter was not able by his own power to withstand such a strong temptation but would be shamefullie foyled in it though he was so confident of his own strength When Peter was in this fearful condition by his great sin through the cunning of the Devil Christ did graciously look back upon him and touched his heart with his Spirit c Mark 14. and made him remember the crowing of the Cock which was the token of remembrance that Christ gave him Then Peter knew how heinously he had sinned and then also he presently went out from that wicked companie to avoid further occasions of sinning and wept bitterly which was a true Testimonie of the sorrow of his heart because he had so grosly denied his dear Master Here we may discover the frailty of the flesh though we be in the state of Grace if God doth not still uphold us with the power of his Grace For our passions will over-power us our sins will prevail against us and every temptation of the Devil will make us let go the Anchor of our Hope in God if we had not the benefit of Christs prayer that our Faith fail not in these our spiritual conflicts Here also we may see what deep impression sudden fear will sometimes make in our hearts for it will sink our Spirits and take away all humane Strength and Courage Thus it was with Josephs Brethren when they found their Mony in their Sacks mouth d Gen. 42. 28. for their heart failed and they were afraid The Canaanites were not able to stand before the Children of Israel e Denr 11. 25. because the Lord did lay the fear of them and the dread of them upon all the Land Sudden fear will also shake the very foundation of our faith and of all other spiritual Graces that are in us as it wrought upon Peter at this time This is an humane Passion that all men are subject unto but a good Conscience and a watchful Eye are the best preservatives against it For as the Psalmist saith f Psal 53. 4 5. The workers of iniquity are in great fear where no fear is because the guilt of their sin lieth upon their Consciences Here also we may discover the policy of the Devil who putteth his Hook into such plausible and harmless Baits as do give us no occasion to suspect any hurt or danger whereby we are easily brought under his power if we have not the assistance of Gods holy Spirit to escape them Wherefore we have great cause to stand continually upon our watch and to suspect our own strength and to be careful what we speak and what we hear what we do and what we see done what steps we tread and what company we come into for there might be much danger where we see no appearance of it Let Peters example keep us from presuming upon our own strength lest God doth permit the Devil to winnow us as Wheat that we may know how weak we â—re without the power of his Grace and to make us afraid of falling into temptations This fear is not slavish but it is an holy and a true filial fear which will keep us from all occasions of sin whereby God may be dishonoured and it will bring us to an holy care how to walk circumspectly before God in all Piety and Godliness it will also restrain us from all sinful desires and put us forward to the practise of all holy duties From hence also we may draw sweet Consolation to our Souls though the measure of our Faith and of other Graces be but smal for the Devil can do nothing without leave and permission from God who will not give him power against us above our strength but will restrain him from effecting that which his malicious will doth intend and purpose for our hurt He may be permitted to sift us with his temptations as he did Peter he may bring troubles and afflictions upon us as he did upon Job but he shall never overthrow our Faith nor quite bereave us of Hope for God will so order and dispose of our sufferings that they shall procure our good either to purge us from some corruptions that we cherish or else to make us keep more close to our God and this is our great comfort That Christ hath Prayed for us that our Faith might hold out to the end though the combat we fight be very difficult and dangerous and our strength very weak Afflictions and Crosses will try our patience Scorns and Reproaches will try the meekness of our spirits Want and Penury will try our trust and confidence in the providence of God anguish of Soul for sin will try our Faith and Hope in Christ want of answer to our praiers will try the fervencie and faithfulness of them and the fear of persecution or torment will try our constancie and perseverence in the truth If we find anie Grace weak in us Christ will make it stronger if we sue unto him for it by our faithful Praiers For the Spirit of Grace rested upon him that Grace might plentifullie flow down to all that have interest in him by Faith g Psal 13. 3. 2. Like the precious Oyntment that was poured upon Aarons head which went down to the skirts of his garments If this be our Condition that we are daily subject to divers temptations which of our selves we can neither prevent nor overcome we must then keep close to our gracious Saviour and Redeemer who onlie can keep us from them or preserve us in them h 1 Cor. 30. 13.
make thee out of hope of the love and favour of God in Christ but thou wilt resolve still to be faithfull to thy Saviour and to keep thy heart sincere and upright towards God and then Christ will restore thee if thou fallest he will heal thee by repentance as he did Peter if thou art wounded and whatsoever thou fearest shall not dismay thee Christ will be thy comfort in all thy sorrowes thy hiding place in all dangers and he will be thy defence against all thy spirituall enemies that they shall not overthrow the salvation of thy soul Christs sufferings under Pilate NOw we come to consider what Christ suffered under Pilate and how the immaculate Lamb of God was hurried from the wolfe to the lyon and from thence to the bear and back again to the lyon and so to the shambles where he must be slain For the more his Divine graces did shine forth in the purity of his life and Doctrine the more did the divel rage and the malice of the Jews increase against him He is now brought before Pilate a Luk 23. and thither did the chief Priests and Elders come with their false accusations against him They likewise follow him from Pilate to Herod before whom also they falsly accused him with much vehemency yet they rest not there but they returned again to Pilate with their hearts full of envy and malice and their mouthes full of opprobrious speeches and blasphemies against the innocent Lamb of God to put him to death Thus they persecuted the Lord of glory our gracious Redeemer and yet these wicked dissembling Rulers did hide and cover their grosse hypocrisie and their divilish malice under the pretence of sanctity and holinesse b Joh 18. 28 for they refused to go into Pilates judgement-hall lest they should be defiled but that they might eat the Passeover for this was the preparation day What holinesse can there be in a malicious heart How can the heart be prepared to serve God aright when the conscience is stained with the guilt of sin and how durst they eat the Passover when there was so much soure leaven of hateful malice in them but they did stand more upon the outward form of godlinesse then to perform it with pure affections and with a good conscience Now we may easily see what Satans drift is against the servants of God for if he did stirre up all his instruments to persecute Christ Jesus our Head with deadly hatred he will not spare us that are his members and he will set upon those that are most eminent in grace with his strongest assaults Thus he assaulted Job with many and great afflictions one upon the neck of another to overthrow his patience c 1 Chro. 21. 1. Thus he strongly tempted David to number the people to make him trust in the arm of flesh and to weaken his confidence in God d 2 Cor. 12. 7. and thus he buffeted Paul with his temptations and many sore afflictions But this is our comfort that he can do no more than God doth permit him he cannot exercise his power according to his malice for God will not suffer him to assault his weak servants with strong temptations and though he doth sometimes permit him violently to set upon those that are rich in grace and strong in faith yet he will order and dispose his attempts for their good and not for their destruction as the divell doth maliciously intend God will make them serve for the triall and manifestation of their graces for the preventing of spirituall pride and for the confirmation of their faith and affiance in God by that experience of his assistance and gracious deliverance which hereby they have gained From hence we may learn how to be prepared when we come to the Lords Table to eat of his holy Supper how to come to the hearing of his Word and how to addresse our selves unto Prayer and to pious meditations If we come to these holy Ordinances with polluted hands and with hearts defiled with the guilt of sin as these Rulers did to eat the Passover what holinesse soever we pretend we do but dissemble with God we delude our own soules and God will neither hear us nor accept us Wherefore we must cast out the leaven of sin and purge our consciences from dead works by faith in the bloud of Christ before we come into the presence of God that our affections may be quickned and raised up to these heavenly and Divine Ordinances of God But if our sins do stick close to our soules by our delight in them they will binde us over to judgement and to condemnation and therefore we must not seek to hide them or to colour them over with fair pretences as if God could not see them but we must confesse them and lay them open before God from a truly humbled and penitent heart that so we may come before him in sincerity and in truth for e Psal 44. 21. God knoweth the secrets of our hearts But if we will hide our sins quite out of Gods sight we must hide them under the righteousnesse of Christ for there is no other hiding place for sin but under this robe Thus the guilt of our sins may be hidden from God if we can apply to our souls Christ crucified and his righteousnesse by faith Also if we have a true assurance by our repentance that our iniquities are forgiven we may then and not before draw near unto God with comfort and we may partake of his holy Ordinances with much profit for they are appointed for us if we are thus prepared for them and bestowed onely upon such as have interest in Christ by faith We come now to look upon the innocency of our blessed Redeemer who was without spot or stain of sin both in the sight of God and in the sight of man otherwise he could not have saved us from our sins Thus saith God himself of him f Luk. 17. 5. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased g John 8. 46 Which of you saith Christ to the Pharisees convinceth me of sin Pilate and Herod did strictly examine him and yet they could find no fault in him h Luk. 23. 14. Pilate himself did freely confesse that Christ was blamelesse and therefore he sought meanes how to release him Also i Mat. 27. 19 his wife sent to him saying Have thou nothing to do with that just man for she was much troubled that night by some revelations concerning him Though Christ was accused of many things yet nothing could be proved against him notwithstanding Christ was willing in obedience to his Fathers will to suffer the utmost that God had appointed for mans redemption for if any part of this great Work had been left unfinished he could never have procured our atonement and reconciliation with God Wherefore here is matter of great comfort for our hearts to meditate upon for
the power of sin will be killed in us that by the sanctifying Grace of the holy Ghost we may be raised up to newnesse of life If we did seriously consider these things we should not keep at so farre a distance from Piety and vertue and we should not be such strangers to a Christian life and conversation but we would use all means to get into nearer society with Christ by true saving faith and by heavenly contemplation that the spirituall dew of his heavenly graces may distill into our hearts to sanctifie us throughout both in soul and in body that in Christ we may be made new creatures To this end we must endeavour to keep our faith still in action and continually to use it upon all occasions and in every condition of life for thereby we shall draw strength and power from Christ to carry us on through all temptations and tryalls and to support and comfort us in all sorrows and tribulations it will purifie our hearts from dead works and suffer no sin to continue with us without repentance to hinder the salvation of our souls This rare example of the goodnesse and mercy of Christ to this believing Thief may keep us from despair because g Ezech. 18 21 22. there is mercy for a sinfull soul if at any time he doth truly repent and turn to the Lord with a full intent and purpose of will to reform his evill it doth also teach us not to be secure or carelesse of our salvation for it is extreamly dangerous to loose any opportutunity of grace that God shall give us or to take so much liberty to sin as to forget to make our Peace with God in time for we must give an account at the last day of all that we have done in the flesh and our condition then wil be most miserable if our reckoning be not made perfect in the righteousnesse of Christ by faith while we live here upon earth and therefore it is the greatest punishment in this life to have no sense of our spirituall misery and not to fear or remember the dreadfull day of judgement Also this consideration should keep us from rash judgement and censuring of any mans condition though he be a notorious sinner for God can give him grace to repent when he pleaseth As this one example of the mercy of Christ to this penitent sinner may keep us from despair from security and from rash judging of others so let it keep us from presuming upon sin in hope of pardon we do wilfully delay our repentance from day unto day and so continue impenitent to the last part of our life because this man had all his sins forgiven even in a moment and was received to mercy at the last hour for God may justly deny us mercy if we refuse grace when the means is offered to us So likewise let it keep us from presuming upon repentance because it is not in our power to repent when we will This heavenly grace is the gift of God and it is the first fruits of faith which the holy Ghost will work in us if we are ready to yield obedience to his holy inspirations or to make the right use of such meanes as he is pleased to use to make us willing to seek unto him for it for if the Spirit of God doth not work it in us we can have no hope ever to obtain it Now consider the strength of faith that was in this poor sinner he gave the highest title of honour to Christ when he we was scornfully mocked and in a most contemptible condition to the eye of all men he did imbrace him and vindicate his honour when he was upon the crosse he did believe that heaven was his Kingdom though he were now reviled and despised of all men and that he had the disposing of all honours and preferments in that Kingdom which made him pray unto him Lord remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdome also his heart was touched with a sensible feeling of his sins he made a pious confession of them and therefore he did pray for mercy out of a true sense of his misery If we can shew the faith of this penitent Thief though our life hath been as vicious as his was and though we turn to Christ late as he did yet we may have good hope of the pardon of our sins and we may comfortably expect his felicity for Christ will return the like gracious answer to our Prayers and the like promise of future happinesse But what faith can we shew if we still dishonour Christ with our words and works how can we trust in him if we do not believe that all regall power both in heaven and in earth is given unto him And how can we hope for future blessednesse from him if we are not confident that he is the disposer of all the glorious mansions that are in heaven what godly sorrow have we for our sins if we still go on in a presumptuous way of sinning And what hope is there of true repentance if we still cherish foster our sins in our bosome if our faith and repentance be no better then thus Christ will not hear our Prayers nor grant our requests Wherefore let not the devill delude thee with security or presumption lest he brings thee to perdition for many have perished with the shadow of this deceitful hope Look well to the truth of thy faith that it be well grounded upon the true knowledge of Christ and of those excellencies that are in him that thou maist firmly rest upon him in all troublesome and dangerous times but chiefly for the redemption of thy soul Neglect not the means of grace and defer not thy repentance for God hateth such as upon confidence of repentance in their old age do presume to sin the moâ—e freely as if God did not know the deceit and hypocrisie that is in their hearts h Deut. 29. 19 20 If thou dost flatter thy self in thy wickednesse and doest blesse thy self in thy heart saying I shal have peace though I walk in the imagination of my heart to ad drankenes to thirst then know that the Lord will not spare thee but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousie shall smoke against thee and all the curses that are written in his book shal lye upon thee and the Lord shall blot out thy Name from under heaven Consider further how much this penitent sinner was humbled in the sense of his sins and of his unworthinesse and also how bountifull and good Christ was to him for he durst not presume to beg any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ but onely some remembrance of him when he came into his Kingdome but Christ did grant him a present possession of his Kingdome Verily I say unto thee To day thou shalt be with me in Paradise This Paradise was the place of blessednesse where all the Saints of God shall be untill the generall
and honour wherewith God hath crowned him then our souls will feel a comfortable influence of grace from his glorious Exaltation to give us an holy assurance that he hath led captive all our spirituall enemies and hath so weakened their power that they have no ability to hurt our souls also that in his due Time he will take revenge upon all the Enemies of his Church And as he is crowned with the highest titles of honour so likewise he will crown the meanest of his Saints with honour and dignity far above the greatest Potentate upon earth This doth also give us assurance that we may receive from the fulnesse of Christ sufficient grace for the mortifying of our sins for the sanctifying of our lives and for our comfort in all tribulations he will support us in all our spirituall weaknesses he will cure all the wounds that sin hath made in our souls and he will keep us from despair because he doth binde us with the bonde of faith so close to himself that we shall not totally and finally fall away from him and he will so protect and defend us that no adversary power shall be able to take us out of his hands But if we conceive of these high honours and dignities of Christ according to our humane capacity and not according to the reach of faith as it is grounded upon the Word of God we shall too much undervalue his highnesse and disrespect his sacred Majestie we cannot confide in his power to defend us against all our spiritual adversaries neither can we rest and depend upon his goodnesse to supply all our wants to minister relief in all our necessities to heal all our infirmities and to be all in all unto us upon all occasions our frail nature will be full of doubtings and fears to weaken our faith and confidence in him for according to our esteem of him in our hearts such is our faith such is our hope and trust in him if we have no spiritual eye to discern these essential honours and excellencies of Christ we cannot then reach them with that reverence and fear with that duty and obedience as we ought and our best worship and service will come far short of that which his great and dreadful Name requireth Now then examine thine own heart and see what good evidence thou hast that Christ is dear and precious unto thee and that thou dost honour him with thy heart and soul what experience hast thou had of his goodnesse and power How hast thou performed thy duty and service to him What awful reverence and filial fear hast thou had of his sacred Majesty when thou hast been in his presence and about his businesse If thy conscience can tell thee that Christ is the joy of thy heart that he is thy Lord God thy King and Governour then he hath set up his Scepter of righteousnesse in thee and ruleth in thy heart and that hereafter he will bring thee to his eternall kingdom of glory If the holy Ghost hath thus wrought in thy heart thou wilt finde a conformity of will to the will of Christ thine affections will be squared to the glory of God to love that which he loveth and to hate that which he hateth thy sinful desires will be restrained for the fear and dread of his great Name will be alwayes before thine eyes and the love of him will constrain thee to obedience Also the hardnesse of the heart will be taken away Ezek. 36. 26 27. and it will be made tender and flexible fit to receive any heavenly impression of grace Our Advantage and gain by CHRIST in this life EVery true believer hath a peculiar Advantage and Gain by Christ more than unregenerate men in whatsoever they possesse though these have more of earthly blessings and of common graces than many of Gods servants yet it is with a great deal of difference for by Christ they are sanctified to the one not the other But there is a spirituall Gain by Christ which is onely proper and peculiar to the children of God whereof unregenerate men are not capable until faith be wrought in them by the holy Ghost to unite them unto Christ First we have this Advantage by Christ above unregenerate men a Gen. 3. 17. that the curse which God laid upon the creatures for the sin of man is taken away and he hath given to every true believer in Christ the free use of them all for his comfort and to glorifie God in their right use and by their thankfulnesse for them for Christ hath sanctified them and made them blessings to them But unregenerate men have no right to what they injoy because they have no interest in Christ and the curse still cleaveth to whatsoever they possesse for Christ hath not taken it away nor sanctified their estate unto them for their good Secondly this is our peculiar Gain by Christ that he hath taken away the guilt of sin that by nature was upon our souls and hath fastned it to his own crosse whereas naturall men have the guilt of their sins still cleaving to their souls so long as they are in that condition This is a great advantage to us that are in Christ if we do well consider it for now we may appear with boldnesse in the presence of God we need not fear the accusations of the Divell our conscience can witnesse nothing against us because we have no guilt of sin and the Law cannot condemn us b Rom. 8. 1. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit c Isa 53. 5 6 For Christ was wounded for our transgressions as saith the Prophet he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed All we like sheep have gone astray we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all Thus are our sins imputed unto Christ because be hath taken them upon himself and his righteousnesse is imputed unto us that we might appear without sin in the sight of God Thirdly This is a speciall Gain that we have by Christ above all other men that he hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law d Gal. 3. 13. being made a curse for us for it is written Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree Christ in our nature and for us hath fulfilled the whole righteousnesse of the Law by his active obedience to it and he hath suffered the penalty of it by his passive obedience even to the death of the Crosse that the justice of God might be satisfied for all our sins so that now we are not under the curse of the Law nor under the condemning power of sin but we are under grace because he hath reconciled us to God and brought us again into his grace and favour that
with Christ and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus that he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindnesse toward us through Christ Jesus b Eph. 4. 23 This renovation in the spirit of our minde is wrought in us by the holy Ghost through Christ for he was anointed with the holy Ghost for this end and purpose that by him we might be raised up from the death of sin to a spirituall life of grace according to the signification of his Name for as he is Christ he is Anointed of God and as he is Jesus he is the Saviour of the world to save us from our sins and to work salvation for us whereof we are not capable untill we have a spiritual life wrought in us Thus saith the Spouse of Christ c Cant. 1. 3. Thy Name is as oyntment poâ—red forth A precious Oyntment hath many excellent vertues d Psal 104. 15. for it maketh a chearful countenance it comforteth and strengtheneth all the parts of the body it healeth all diseases and it sendeth forth a sweet savour when it is poured out which refresheth and comforteth all the senses Thus is Christ to every true believers soul he is the Anointed of God as saith the Psalmist of him e Psal 45. 7. Thou lovest righteousnesse and hatest wickednesse therefore God thy God hath anointed thee with the oyl of gladnesse above thy fellowes f Act. 10. 38 for he was anointed with the holy Ghost and with power First by the power of his holy unction Christ doth put a spiritual light into our understanding by his Spirit that we may see how to walk in the paths of godlinesse and truth according to this of old Simeon g Lu. 2. 31 32. that God had prepared him to be a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of his people Israel h Psal 97. 11 Light is sown for the righteous and the comfort and gladnesse of it for the upright in heart This Prophesie was fulfilled in Christ i Isa 2. 9. The people that walked in darknesse have seen a great light they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death upon them hath the light shined k Eph. 5. 14 Wherefore awake thou that sleepest in fin and arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light If we want this heavenly light we must needs wander and go astray from God and we have no means to obtain such a light but by Christ It is sin that hath brought this darknesse and this spiritual death upon our souls and none but Christ can take it away This is the beginning of our spiritual life when we have some light to discern the spirituall things of God for the good of our souls Secondly Christ is the food and nourishment of our souls to preserve this spirituall life in us whose flesh we must spiritually eat and whose blood we must spiritually drink by faith in the hearing of his Word preached and Sacramentally when we come to his holy Table or else we have not this spirituall life in us l John 6. 48 53. I am that bread of life saith Christ which came down from heaven who so eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternall life and I will raise him up at the last day for my flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed Wherefore if our souls do hunger and thirst after this heavenly food and do earnestly desire to be refreshed and fully satisfied therewith it is an evident sign that there is a spiritual life in us for Christ doth freely offer himself to every empty soul that can feed upon him by Faith in his Word or in his Sacraments But if our desires and the affections of our hearts are taken up with the love of this world and of earthly vanities it s no marvell if we have no hunger nor thirst after Christ and that we feel so little want and need of him Thirdly the blood of Christ is the true balm to heal and cure all the diseases and wounds that sin hath made in our souls it is like m Lu 10. 34 the good Samaritans wine and oyl for it hath a cleansing and an healing vertue There can be no wound so deep in the soul and no ulcer so festered but this precious Oyntment will cleanse and heal it if it be rightly applyed by faith and true repentance for repentance layeth open the wound by true confession and faith applyeth the remedy to it and then repentance giveth us an holy assurance that we shall be cured This is the way and the means of recovery when our souls are sick of any spirituall disease and also to preserve that spirituall life which is in us Lastly when the heavenly graces that flow from Christ are poured out upon our soules they will greatly refresh and comfort our spirits in all sadnesse of heart and they will so persume all our actions and services which we perform unto God that their sweet savour shall ascend up unto him that he may smell it and graciously accept of us and of our offerings n Gen. 8. 21. When Noah offered burnt offerings to the Lord after the floud the Lord smelled a sweet savour and accepted his sacrifice and blessed him exceedingly Wherefore if our souls are perfumed with grace they will so perfume all our holy oblations which we offer up to God that he will in mercie accept them for his Sonnes sake o I rev 5. 8. But the sacrifices of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord and they stink in his nostrils because they proceed from a corrupt and unclean heart which is not perfumed with grace how much â— Eccl. 10. 1 more when he bringeth them with a wicked mind â—o 21. 27 Sin is like dead flies in the ointment of the Apothecary which causeth it to stink for sin maketh us odious in the sight of God Wherefore take heed with what heart thou comest into the presence of God and that thou bringest no oblation to him with a wicked mind but first purifie thy heart from sinne by faith in the bloud of Christ and see that thy soul be perfumed with sanctifying grace and then come and offer thy gift and God will accept it But if there be any sin in thy bosome unrepented of or any iniquity in thy heart which thou seekest to hide from God then he cannot smell a sweet savour of thy prayers of thy praises and thanksgivings or of any duty which thou performest to him to make it accepted because thy heart is not upright before God Now we must examine our selves what spiritual life we have by Christ and we must know how he is our spiritual life if we will have any comfort thereby First q 1 Joh. 2. 20 If we have this holy unction from Christ which was poured upon him above measure that
Davids delight to Meditate on the Law of God because he found great sweetnesse in it f Psal 119. 163. How sweet saith he are thy words unto my taste Yea sweeter than hony to my mouth If we had Davids spiritual palate g Isa 58. 13. we should delight in the Lords Sabbath as he saith by his Prophet we should delight to hear his Word to come to his holy Table to meditate on his Law and to practise all holy duties to the honour and glory of his Name Also if we do set our selves to Meditate on the strength and power of his grace we shall finde that Faith will give us sufficient power against all our spiritual enemies hope will uphold our Faith in the promises of God when it is weak patience will make us bear our afflictions and tryalls with a willing minde holy zeal will make our Prayers effectual to prevail with God to grant what we desire or what is better for us and constancy will make us continue in well-doing unto the end that we may receive that recompence of reward which God of his infinite goodnesse hath promised As Faith is the Mother of all other spiritual graces so it will alwayes go along with every particular grace to make it the more effectual and powerful to help us in time of need Now we know the quicknesse of our spirituall taste by our delight in holy duties and in the Ordinances of God and we may know the strength of grace by the fruits and effects of it according to the nature of every particular grace also the truth of every grace that is in us will appear and that it is a fruit of Faith if the power of Faith goeth along with it How to increase Faith EVery man hath not alike measure of Faith he that iâ— weakest in Faith may be made stronger and he that is strong in Faith may yet have more for it is a spiritual and heavenly grace which will grow and increase if it be spiritually watered by the holy Ghost Christ did find a great Faith in the Woman of Canaan and in some others a Mat. 15. 28. O woman saith he to her great is thy faith but he did often reprove his Disciples for the weaknesse of their Faith and thus he said in particular unto Peter b Mat. 14. 31 O thou of little faith wherefoer didst thou doubt Peters doubting made him ready to sink as he walked upon the waters unto Christ and it did discover the weaknesse of his Faith and confidence in Christ as if he could not give him power to walk upon the waters as he did This is the condition of many of Gods dear servants that when they see perills and dangers ready to fall upon them and no means either to escape them or to be delivered from them then fears and doubtings will rise in their mindes to discover the weaknesse of their Faith and to make them distrust the providence of God to doubt of his Fatherly care of them and of his Almighty Power to save them For sometimes their Faith may be so weak that it cannot mount above their humane capacity they cannot see the wisdom and power of God to be far above the reach of their reason and understanding When God seeth such weaknesse in our Faith he will tenderly visite us and will give us hope by some manifest signes to strengthen our faith against all our fears and doubtings Though our faith be weak yet if it be true it is saving it is growing and it is lasting Faith is saving because it doth unite us unto Christ with an unseparable union who is the rock of our salvation and by whom onely we must be saved c Act. 4. 11 12. Christ is that stone which was set at nought of the builders which is becâ—me the head of the corner Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved Also we may grow in faith First d 1 Pet. 2. 2. if we desire the sincere milk of the Word as new born babes desire the milk of the breast that we may thereby grow in the knowledge of God and of his Son Jesus Christ If the word of God be purely Preached without the mixture of erroneous doctrine it is the seed of grace which God soweth in our hearts by his Ministers and he will water it with his Spirit to make it increase and fructifie that we may grow in grace until we come to a full stature in Christ if we do hear iâ— with sanctified hearts and pure affections Secondly we may greatly increase our faith in Christ if we do spiritually feed upon his body and blood when we come to the Lords Table which is the true food of our souls and the heavenly nourishment of that spirituall life which we have in Christ by Faith and the oftner we do thus feed at the Lords Table the more we cherish this spiritual life and the more we increase our Faith and make all other saving graces the stronger in us Thirdly prayer is a speciall meanes for the increase of our Faith for we have the beginnings of Faith from God the increase of it also and the stablishment of it is from God and we must beg it of him by our Prayers and supplications or else we cannot obtain it Thus said the Apostles unto Christ e Lu. 17. 5. Lord increase our Faith Also thus said the Father of the dumb childe unto Christ f Mar. 9. 24 Lord I believe help thou my unbelief God is ready to hear the Prayers of his servants but specially when they make such petitions as he is willing to grant which are such as do make most for his own glory and nothing can advance the glory of God more than when they crave the increase of their Faith without which they can glorifie God in no services which they perform unto him for without faith it is impossible to please God and so consequently to honour him in any holy duty which he commandeth Fourthly Faith will grow and increase by our dayly Meditation on the Truth of Gods Word how faithfully he hath performed all his Promises how ready and how able he is still to perform them if we can rest and depend upon them by Faith If we consider that God is immutable and omnipotent in his own Essence that he is Truth it self that he will not alter whatsoever he hath decreed in his secret Counsel and that he will perform all that he hath promised in his Word it will greatly strengthen our Faith and uphold our trust and confidence in God when any difficulties or dangers presse hard upon us which otherwise would shake the foundation of our faith Fifthly the dayly experience which we have of the power of God and of his goodnesse to us in all conditions of life whether we be in prosperity or in adversity in health or in
written r Rom. 3. 10 11. There is none righteous no not one there is none that understandeth there is none that seeketh after God there is none that doth good no not one Most men fix their â—aith upon wrong objects which will deceive them in the end some upon false gods as upon Ashteroth Chemosh Dagon Belzebub and the like others put their confidence trust in the arm of flesh in strong towers or in the creature as Senacherib Nebuchadnezzar and others some again ground their faith upon their works all which delude themselves with vain hopes thinking to find help and comfort in these false objects where none can be expected But the true object of this Divine grace is God himself upon whom onely we must fix our Faith for if we trust in him we shall not be confounded Many have the notion of Faith in their brain but not the grace of Faith in their hearts and many have the outward profession of Faith but not the vertue and power of it to lay hold upon Christ and to make him their onely trust and confidence The Souldiers Faith is in his valour for he believeth not that Å¿ Ps 144. 1. God teacheth his hands to war and his fingers to fight and that he giveth victory to whom and when he pleaseth If the Magistrate did believe t Rom. 13. â— that he had his power and authority from God to use it in justice and in truth to whom he must give an account how he hath relieved the oppressed and how he hath judged the cause of the fatherlesse and Widow he would not then strain the Lawes beyond their true meaning nor pervert judgement for anjust ends The rich mans confidence is in his wealth and goods not believing u Lu. 12. 20 that this night they may be taken from him or he from them All these and many more come short of true justifying faith and therefore they know not the singular worth and esteem of it Wherefore it is evident that this heavenly grace is peculiar onely to the Elect of God such as are true Christians and such as are poor in spirit and humble minded that know the worth of this precious Jewell that do earnestly seek for it and use the right means to obtain it these onely are willing and ready to apply themselves unto God by prayer and supplication that he will be pleased to work it in their hearts by his Spirit that it may be firmly grounded upon Christ that onely he may be the Object of their Faith in whom dwelleth all fulnesse and who onely is able to support help and comfort them in all their necessities both spirituall and temporall and as he is able so he is as willing to do it Wherefore they do renounce all other confidence and they stick close unto Christ they rest and depend upon him using the means which he hath appointed to make their lives comfortable here and eternally blessed in the world to come Lastly the great estimation that we ought to have of Faith will appear by this consideration that the devill doth most oppose it and seeketh by all means to hinder the working and the growth of it in our hearts because it is the onely instrument of our salvation by Christ We cannot conceive what stratagemâ— he will cunningly use to deceive us and if it were possible to overthrow our faith First he will assault us with temptations and evil suggestions as he did David when he numbered the people to make him trust more in his own strength than in God Secondly he will labour by his subtile perswasions to keep us still in unbelief or else to make us presume of salvation by the mercies of God without Faith in Christ Thirdly he will delude us with a temporary faith which will not bear us out in strong tryals and temptations and so to lose the time and opportunity that God doth give us for the obtaining of true saving Faith Fourthly he â—oth bewitch us with the sinfull delights and vanities of this world to steal away our hearts from God and to keep us from a firm trust and confidence in him or else to keep us under the slavery and bondage of some sin which will nip the fruits of our faith and keep it from increase Lastly to further his wicked design he will labour to hold us in ignorance and blindnesse that we should not see our own miserable condition nor know how to get out of it Thus the Devil doth set himself against Faith because upon it dependeth our hope of salvation and because it is the chief piece of our spirituall armour to resist and conquer him and it is a shield so strong that his fiery darts cannot pierce it to wound or hurt our souls Wherefore we must look well to our Faith that the devil do not undermine it for then he will rob us of these blessed fruits that come thereby But our hope is in the promises of God and in the intercession of Christ as a sure Anchor to uphold and strengthen our Faith that it fail not though it be assaulted with much malice and violence In all ages the Devil hath had his wicked instruments which have turned many away from the Faith and have opposed the Prophets and Ministers of God and have persecuted those that did professe the Name of Christ to make them forsake the Faith u Gen. 3. Thus he made the Serpent his instrument to deceive Eve x 1 Kin. 22. Thus he made Zâ—dâ—kiah to withstand good Michaiah and to seduce King Ahab from following the word of the Lord. y Acts 13. 8 10. Thus also Elimas the forcerer withstood Paul and Barnabas seeking to turn away Sergius Paulus the Deputy from the Faith to whom Paul said O full of all subtilty and all mischief thou childe of the devil thou enemy of all righteousnesse wilt thou not cease to pervert the right wayes of the Lord Thus also the devil doth sometimes prevail against the servants of God z 1 Kin. 13. He made the old Prophet to seduce the man of God that was sent to Bethel and to transgresse the Commandement of God This should teach us the more highly to love and prize Faith because the devil so much hates it and to stick the closer to it because he doth so much oppose it This should also teach us to love those that wicked men hate and to hate those that they love if we observe what they do most delight in we should hate their vice and love the contrary vertue If they delight in gluttony or riot we should hate that and love temperance and sobriety if they take pleasure in uncleannesse then we should love chastity If they delight in pride we should delight in humility and lowlinesse of Spirit they have so much of the devils nature in them that they cannot truly love any thing that is pious and holy because it is that which God loveth neither
duty or fall through frailty and infirmity u Hos 14. 4. God in mercy will heal our backslidings and will accept of our imperfect performances because we have relation un to Christ by Faith Now then if we will strictly examine the actions of our lives by those former directions we shall easily find whether our works and services to God have been such as he requireth and performed according to his will that we may have peace of conscience in them here and eternal comfort by them hereafter If we can find by this inquiry that our works have been the fruits of Faith and that we have done our duty to the best of our power with a faithful heart to the honour of God and not out of pride or vain-glory to get the praise of men as the hypocrites do or to any other by-end then our Faith will shine forth in our works and God will graciously accept them But if the actions of our life have been evill they will follow us for evill when we lye down and when we rise up and whithersoever we go If we sleep or wake they will molest and trouble us they will aggravate our sorrowes in our afflictions and our pains in sicknesse they will imbitter all the comforts of our life and increase the fear and terrour of death for they will come into our remembrance when we ly upon our death-beds to vex and terrifie our very souls and to make us uncapable of any heavenly consolation untill the guilt of sin that cleaveth to them be taken away by Faith in the blood of Christ Also u Rev. 14. 13 our evill works will follow us unto judgement to accuse us before the great and dreadful Judge x Rev. 20. 13 and then God will judge us according to them if they be found wicked and sinful we cannot but expect the dreadful sentence of condemnation to be pronounced against us Also after judgement they will increase our torments in hell if we do not prevent it in time by our true repentance while we live here in this life Lastly Faith will fit and prepare us for a blessed and a comfortable death for by it we shall steer the whole course of our lives to the honour of y Col. 1. 10. God it will make us fruitfull in every good work that they may be rightly done both for the matter and for the manner and also to the right end as God hath appointed them we cannot then but live vertuously and piously in the true fear of God and he will reward us of his free bounty and goodnesse though not of merit God will remember our works if they are done in sincerity and in truth to comfort us in the sadnesse of our hearts to ease us in the extremity of pain and sicknesse and to give us a peaceable and a quiet conscience in the assurance of the pardon of our sins and of his grace and favour before the hour of our dissolution shall come upon us Such good works will adorn our profession and make our lives comfortable to us and our conversation sutable to our profession and they will follow us for our good whithersoever we go for there is no guilt of sin that cleaves to them because Christ hath taken it a way whereof we are fully perswaded by Faith z Neh. 13. 14. If we can with good Nehemiah put God in remembrance of our good deeds how will it strengthen our hope and trust in God for his protection in all dangers for his help and succour in all our distresses and for his assistance when we undertake any speciall businesse what sweet consolation will it be to us when we are upon our death-beds if with a clear conscience we can put God in minde a Isa 38. 3. as King Hezekiah did that we have walked before him in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which was good in his sight If we thus live and thus dye we may then say with Paul b Rom. 14 8. Whether we live we live unto the Lord and whether we dye we dye unto the Lord whether we live therefore or dye we are the Lords c Rev. 14. 13. John heard a voice from heaven saying unto him Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them We may confidently believe that their condition is most blessed because it is the voice of the spirit of truth that doth affirm it We have also great encouragement to be fruitfull in good works because they will go with us even to the Tribunall seat of God for Christ hath fastned them to our souls that God may then look upon them and remember them for the increase of our joy and happinesse hereafter If we do now ruminate well upon all these several excellent benefits and comforts that come by a true and lively faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ we may draw sweet and heavenly Meditations from thence for the comfort of our souls against the power of the devill the rigour of the Law the dominion of sin the fear of death and against eternal condemnation For we shall finde that hereby we are ingrafted into Christ who hath redeemed us from all iniquity and from whatsoever our sins have made us lyable unto and hath cleansed us from all the pollutions and defilements of sin he hath made us the adopted sons of God and hath given us all the priviledges that do belong unto Sons Also we shall finde that by Christ we are invested into the Covenant of grace and have right to all the gracious promises of God which will sweetly refresh our souls in all fears and doubtings in all difficulties and dangers in all extremities and distresses if we can apply them to our souls by Faith and rest upon them with stedfast hope Wherefore let this be the Meditation of our hearts and the desire of our souls to have a near communion with Christ that we may say with the Spouse d Cant. 2. 16 My beloved is mine and I am his or to say thus with Paul e Gal. 2. 20. I am crucified with Christ Neverthelesse I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the Faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me This particular application of Christ to our selves will draw from him the richest Jewels that are in his Treasury the richest robe and the best garments that are in his Wardrope and his very heart-blood for our redemption If we look a little lower and fix our Meditations upon the holy Ordinances of God we shall finde that which will sweetly comfort and delight our hearts if we have Faith to understand and believe what the holy Ghost saith to us in them for our instruction and consolation It was